Always the Hero
by AJ6
Summary: What happens when recent events in Danny's life prevent him from being a the life saving donor for his son. Will the guilt be too much? And what happens when Gracie learns the truth about who her baby brother's father really is?
1. Chapter 1

Always the Hero –Part 1

"Dammit!" Steve hit the return key on his keyboard repeatedly and frantically, hoping to undo whatever is was he had done to cause his computer screen to suddenly freeze up on him just as he was about to complete a report he had been working for the last hour. He hated computers and he hated doing reports even more. If Danny had been there, he would have found a way to get him to do it. He always did. Not that Danny liked doing reports any more than Steve did. But Danny would gladly sit in the quiet confines of his office and work on paperwork if it meant he didn't have to listen to Steve whine about doing it all afternoon.

But Danny wasn't here this afternoon. He had left early to go to a Doctor's appointment with Rachel and Charlie. So Steve was stuck doing his own paperwork for a change.

"Dammit! Dammit!" Steve tried circling the mouse quickly on the mousepad and when that did work, he picked it up and slammed down. Not surprisingly, that didn't work either. It was time to call in the big guns.

"Kono! Yo! Kono! I need you! KONO!

"What? What is it?" Kono exclaimed as she entered the office, more than a little annoyed to be summoned in such a manner.

"My computer broke!" Steve exclaimed, pushing his chair back from the desk. "Fix it. Please."

Kono rolled her eyes and made her way around the desk.

"What do you mean it broke?" She loved her boys on the 5-0 team to death, but they were annoyingly clueless when it came to their computers.

"I mean it's broke! Look." he grabbed the mouse and started circling it on the desktop again. "Nothing! It won't do anything!"

"OK. Calm down." She replied making her way between Steve and desk. "Did you try control, alt, delete?"

"Yes! I'm not stupid!"

"I would never imply such a thing Boss." Kono replied with a smirk.

"Can you fix or not?" Steve asked, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Well no. There is nothing I can do. It's frozen." Kono stated. "We're just going to have to reboot." She informed him, reaching for the power button.

"Whoa! Whoa! What about my report? I've been working for an hour on it."

"Well, you hit save. Right?"

"Uh…"

"Boss! What did I tell you the last time? _Always_ hit save every few minutes when you are working on important reports!"

"I know! I know!" Steve groused. "I did. At least, I think I did."

"Well we're about to find out."

Before Steve could object further, Kono hit the power button on the laptop and the screen went black.

"Oh! You better get that back." Steve informed her as his cell phone started to ring.

"If it's not here, it's not my fault." Kono countered as she hit the power button again to boot the machine.

"Just get it back!" Steve insisted, before hitting the call button on his cell and bringing the phone to his ear. "Yeah, this is McGarrett."

"Steve. Hi. It's Stan Edwards"

"Stan?" Steve replied, more than shocked to be receiving a phone call from Rachel's husband. "What's going on?"

"Listen, I'm sorry to call you at work…"

"No, no. It's fine." Steve replied. "Is everything OK?" He could sense an urgency in Stan's voice that was more than a little unsettling.

"No. Not really." Stan replied. "Have you seen Danny? Is he with you by any chance?"

"No he's not with me. He had a doctor's appointment with Rachel. He left hours ago. Isn't he with her?

"No. He's not." Stan informed him. "Shit!"

"OK. Now I'm getting worried Stan. What's going on?"

Kono looked up at from Steve's laptop and turned her attention to her boss, who was now pacing nervously in front of her.

"Danny and Rachel got some bad news from the Doctor today."

"What kind of bad news?" Steve asked.

"Danny can't be Charlie's donor."

"What?" Steve nearly shouted. "I don't understand. I thought he was a match?"

"He was. He is. But…"

"But what?"

"Danny was exposed to radiation the other day. He can't donate now. Not for a while anyway."

Steve shook his head.

"No. No. Danny's fine." Steve insisted.

"What's happening? Kono whispered. Steve shook his head and raised a hand to quiet her.

"Well, apparently he's not because he was sick this morning." Stan informed him.

"What?" Steve gasped. "He didn't say anything?"

"He probably didn't want to worry you. But it obviously worried him because he mentioned it to the Doctor. They were doing a blood test to confirm but they were pretty confident the radiation exposure was the cause."

"Oh my God."

"The Doctor said he should be fine. Exposure was minimal and they can treat it with medication. He just can't be a donor for Charlie."

Steve sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk.

"Danny must be devastated."

"Yeah." Stan replied solemnly. "Yeah he is. The Doctor wanted to admit him overnight for observation and to start treatment, but Danny took off."

"Why would he do that?" Steve asked getting up from the desk to start pacing again.

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Stan! Why did Danny leave?" Steve demanded to know.

"Rachel…She uh…"

"What about Rachel?

"She went off on him Steve. She was upset and she took it out on Danny. She said some pretty nasty things."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"She wasn't thinking clearly. She was so distraught about Charlie. But she regrets it now and she's worried sick about Danny. She's tried calling him. We both have. But he doesn't answer his cell. I swung by his house. He's not there."

"What about Grace?" Steve asked. "Has she heard from him?"

"No. We asked her and she hasn't heard from him. We didn't want to tell her any more. She doesn't even know about Charlie yet or that Danny is his father."

"Dammit!"

"Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

"Yeah. I know a few places I can check."

"Listen. You're working. I can go." Stan offered.

"No!" Steve snapped at him. He didn't mean to. But Danny didn't need to be anywhere near Stan or Rachel at the moment. Regardless of their intentions. "Look, I know you mean well. But I think it would be better if I go after him."

"Yeah. I suppose your right." Stan replied. "I'm probably the last person he wants to see right now. Call us when you find him?"

"Of course." Steve tapped his phone off and barely had time to take a breath before Kono was in front of him.

"What's going on? Danny can't be Charlie's donor?" Kono had only been able to hear one side of the conversation, but that part was clear.

"No he can't." Steve replied, circling his desk to retrieve his car keys from the drawer. "He has radiation poisoning."

"What?" Clearly the news surprised Kono as much as it had him.

"Yeah, apparently Danny has been feeling sick and neglected to tell any of us." Steve said shoving paper and office supplies around in the drawer.

"Are you feeling OK? I mean, you were exposed to." Kono unnecessarily reminded him.

"I feel fine." Steve insisted slamming the drawer shut. "Where the hell are my keys!"

"Behind you on the credenza." Kono informed him. "Are you sure?"

Steve grabbed the keys the turned back to Kono.

"Yes. I swear. I feel fine. And Danno will be fine too. He's just really upset and I have to find him." Steve sighed and shook his head. "It's like Danny just can't catch break. This past year has been a frickin' nightmare for him and it is just getting worse and worse."

"Yeah I know." Kono replied sadly.

"Honestly Kono…I don't know how much more the poor guy can take." Steve said and headed out the door to find his friend.

TBC…

Author's note: I have no medical background nor do I know anything about radiation exposure so this premise may be totally incorrect and unbelievable to those of you that do. But I'm going go with it anyway. Hope you enjoy and as always…I'd appreciate any feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

Always the Hero – Part 2

Steve pulled his truck into his driveway and breathed a sigh of relief. There, in _his_ spot, sat Danny's Camaro. He was here. He was safe.

Steve had spent the past several scouring the island for his friend. He had checked every place he could think of. Spoke to everyone he knew. He thought for sure he would find Danny at his favorite spot overlooking the ocean. But when he got there all he found were some horny teens making out in their car. He briefly considering considered pulling out his badge and reading them the riot act because he was just in _that_ kind of mood. But he quickly decided against it. After all, he had been a horny teenager once. So he got back in his truck and preceded to check every park, beach or bar that Danny had ever visited. He even went to Danny's house twice. All with no luck. He called back to the office several times to see if Danny had shown up there, but that only resulted in worrying Kono, Chin and Lou even more than they already were.

"Have you checked your house?" Kono asked him during their last phone call.

Steve really hadn't even considered it.

"I mean, you are the one he always seems to go to when he's upset."

"But he knew I was at work. Why wouldn't he just go there."

"I dunno. Maybe because _we_ are all here too and he really didn't want to face anyone else right now. I mean, he knew you were going to go home eventually. Right?"

Thankfully, Kono _had_ been right and after a quick phone call to let her know. He headed inside.

He was surprise when he came in the front door and didn't see Danny sitting there in the living room waiting for him. Danny always made himself at home in Steve's house, but it wasn't like him to wander the house when Steve wasn't there.

"Danno! Where you at buddy?" Steve hollered as he made his way toward the kitchen. He stopped halfway when he noticed the sliding door out to the lanai was open. Danny must have been outside. He was about to head out when he heard an unusual ringtone emanating from the living. It was the wicked witch's theme song from the Wizard of Oz."

"Rachel." Steve muttered to himself as he headed back into the living room. Danny must have changed her ringtone once again after he found out she had lied to him about Charlie.

Steve found the Danny's phone on the table in the living. He picked it up and answered it.

"Rachel?"

"Danny?"

"No Steve." He informed her.

"Oh thank God. You found him. Is he alright?"

"I don't know." He replied tersely. "I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet. What the hell did you say to him Rachel?"

"I…I…" She stammered in response.

"You know what? Never mind." Steve snapped at her. "I don't have time for you right now." And hung up before she had a chance to respond. He sighed and stared at the phone for a moment feeling guilty. He shouldn't be so hard on Rachel. What she was going through right now was every parent's nightmare. But then again what she had done to Danny…lying to him for three years about his son, was truly awful and reprehensible. Three years that he should have had, bonding with his son gone and now, he might never get the chance. It broke Steve's heart to even think about it.

He tossed the phone back down on the table and headed outside to find his friend.

An empty bottle of Southern Comfort on his patio table was the first indication to Steve that he was on the right path. Then, he spotted Danny's shoes, neatly placed beside the adirondack chairs at the head of the beach. It was at that moment, that Steve began to panic a little. Danny could swim. He had proven that on a couple of occasions. But it wasn't something he did regularly in the open ocean, nor something he particularly excelled at. And being absolutely shit faced wouldn't help him. So when Steve scanned the beach in front of him and did not immediately spot his friend, he began to worry.

He quickly jogged to the waterfront. Looking to his left, he saw nothing but waves crashing onto an empty shoreline. It was only when he glanced to his right that he allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. There was Danny laying in the wet sand, motionless as the water came in around him.

"Danno!" Steve called out as he quickly made his way to where Danny was lying. "Hey Danny." He said dropping to his knees and gently shaking his passed out partner.

Danny groaned and threw his sopping wet arm over his face. The splash of cool water hitting him the face from the sleeve of his wet oxford shirt must have surprised him as he quickly opened his eyes and began spitting the offending salt water from his mouth,

"What the…I'm wet!" He complained to Steve who was staring down at him.

"Yes you are." Steve agreed. "Come on. Get up."

"It was not wet here when I sat down." Danny informed him.

"Yeah, it's called the tide Danno. And it's coming in. So come on. Get up."

He grabbed Danny by the arm and managed to pull him into a sitting position, but in his drunken stupor, Danny was doing very little to assist and when Steve let go to get a better grip, Danny swayed and immediately started to fall back. Steve quickly grabbed him again to prevent him from slamming back into the now hard wet sand.

"Shit! Come on Danny, help me out here. You gotta get up."

"No I don't." Danny mumbled, his eyes nearly closed as his head flopped forward and his chin hit his chest. "I'll just stay here."

"No, you won't." Steve insisted, as he wrapped an arm around his partner and attempted to hoist him to his feet. It was no easy task. Danny may have been small, but he was all muscle and in his current state, he was totally dead weight in Steve's arms. But despite the lack of help Danny, Steve managed to get him on his feet.

"Alright. Now walk." Steve ordered.

"I'm too tired to walk." Danny groaned and rested his head against Steve chest. "Please can we just sit back down?"

"No!" Steve whined. "My God how can someone so small weigh so much!"

Steve tightened his grip and managed to drag his partner up the beach and into the dry sand. He was slowly making his way back to his yard when Danny suddenly planted his feet firmly into the sand to protest further movement.

"Oh God. I'm gonna be sick." He moaned.

"We're almost there Danny. Just little further." Steve pleaded.

"No. I can't." Danny replied and quickly pushed himself off Steve and fell into the sand. Sprawled on his back and seemingly too weak to move himself, he started to gag and Steve immediately dropped to his knees once again and rolled his partner onto his side so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit.

Once Danny had stopped vomiting, Steve dragged him away from the soiled sand. He sat down in the sand and pulled his partner to him so that Danny was sitting between his legs, leaning back against him with his head resting beneath Steve's chin.

"Ok pal." Steve sighed, wrapping his arms around his exhausted friend. "We'll just rest here a minute."

It wasn't long before he could feel his partner's entire body start to shake as he began sobbing uncontrollably.

"My baby is going to die Steve!" He wailed.

"Awe Danno…No! You don't know that!"

"I do! I do! He needed me. I was the only one who could help him and I screwed up! Charlie is going to die. It's all my fault."

"Danny…"

"Why? Why did this happen? Why did this happen to my little boy?"

"I don't know pal." Steve said quietly, his own tears now freely flowing down his cheeks. "I don't know."

Steve's heart was breaking. Danny was in so much pain and there was nothing he could say or do to make it better. So he did the only thing he could do at that moment. He wrapped his arms tightly around his best friend, and together they cried.

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

Always the Hero – Part 3

 _Note: Sorry for the really short chapter this time. Thank you all who provided feedback. It's greatly appreciated_

The first thing Danny noticed when he woke the next morning was the smell. It wasn't an offensive smell, just a smell that told him even before he opened his eyes that he was not in his own bed. It was unmistakable and yet strangely comforting. It smelled like his partner. Having shared a car with Steve McGarrett for the past five and half years he was very familiar with the smell of the after shave, cologne or whatever the hell it was the Steve doused him with every day. In the beginning he had found it very overpowering, but he grown used to it. Now, it was a just comforting reminder that he wasn't alone. His friend was nearby and for that he was grateful.

Groaning, he stretched his arms over his head and opened his eyes. It was an action he immediately regretted. The bright morning sunlight assaulted his sensitive eyes like knives and his head began to throb. Danny threw an arm across his face to shield himself from light and whimpered to himself.

"Now I remember why I don't drink anymore."

Rolling to his side he slowly opened his eyes again and realized he was Steve's bedroom. If it wasn't already evident by the smell, the photo of Catherine smiling back at him from the nightstand gave it away.

"Oh fantastic." He groaned, reaching out to smack the frame over so he wouldn't have to look at her.

He tried to keep his opinions to himself, but after what Catherine had done to Steve, Danny really couldn't stand the site of her. The clock on the nightstand told him it was almost eleven and he was grateful that Steve had let him sleep so long. Steve was definitely a morning person and Danny wouldn't be surprised if he had already a days worth of chores complete already.

Throwing the covers back, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. The movement made his head throb even more and he had to steady himself a moment before getting up. Once he got to his feet, he only managed to take two steps before he found himself crashing face first to the hardwood floor below.

"Son of a bitch!" He cried out, gingerly rubbing his now aching wrist that had broken his fall.

"Danny!" He heard Steve's voice and thundering footsteps as he made his way quickly up the stairs.

"I'm good!" Danny replied just as Steve appeared in the doorway.

"You alright?" Steve asked him as helped his partner to his feet.

"I'm fine." Danny groaned. "I just tripped over these stupid sweatpants!"

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Steve replied. "I probably should've given you a pair of shorts instead. I just grabbed the first clean thing I could find for ya."

"It's fine." Danny sighed.

Steve gave his partner a sympathetic smile. He really did look a mess. But in an adorable sort of way. The t-shirt and pants Steve had given him were so large on him, it made is already small frame appear that much smaller.

"Listen, why don't you take a quick shower." Steve said, heading over to his bureau. "It will make you feel better." Rummaging through one of the drawers, he found a pair of board shorts and tossed them to Danny. "Here, these will fit you better."

Danny looked at the shorts and raised an eyebrow at his partner.

"Well you won't trip over them anyway."

Danny held the shorts to his waist and found that the bottoms fell below his knees.

"I think my mother used to call these clam diggers."

"Just roll them at the waist and throw a t-shirt on. It'll be fine."

"Kay." Danny mumbled.

"And when you're done you're going to have something to eat and then I'm taking you back to the hospital."

Danny opened his mouth to protest, but Steve quickly cut him off.

"And that's not a choice Danny! You never should have left yesterday."

"Well what about you?" Danny countered.

"What about me?"

"You were exposed to. You could be just a sick as I am."

"Fine!" Steve conceded. "If it will shut you up, I'll let them test me while we're there. Happy?"

"Thrilled." Danny said sullenly as he turned and headed toward the bathroom.

"Hey Danno." Steve called after him.

"Yeah." Danny replied, turning back to him.

"Everything is going to be OK buddy."

"I doubt it." Danny replied sadly. "But thanks anyway."

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

_NOTE: Thank you to all those who have taken the time to provide feedback it's greatly appreciated. Hope you like this next Chapter._

Always the Hero – Part 4

"There you are." Steve McGarrett smiled as his partner shuffled into the kitchen. "I was starting to get worried. A few more minutes and you were going to have an uninvited guest in your shower."

"Sorry." Danny replied, taking a seat at the counter. "The shower just felt so good. I didn't want to get out."

"No worries." Steve assured him. "I made you some tea and toast."

"I'd rather have a beer."

Steve frowned.

"Danny. It's eleven o'clock in the morning."

"Yeah well, I'm pretending I'm in my happy place." Danny informed him. "And it's happy hour in New Jersey."

Steve responded by rolling his eyes and setting the cup of tea down in front his partner.

"'Do we really have to go back to the hospital." Danny asked, picking up the tea and taking a sip. "Can't we just have them call in a prescription to the pharmacy?"

"We probably could. But it would really make me feel better if you would let them take a look at you." Steve replied.

"Well you know my world revolves around your happiness so I guess we're going." Danny countered sarcastically.

"That's my boy!'

It was Danny's turn to roll his eyes. He reached for the plate of toast Steve had set on the counter when suddenly the familiar wicked witch ring tone rang out from his cell phone that was sitting on the counter. Danny groaned and hung his head.

"Seriously? I really can't deal with her right now."

"I got it." Steve assured him, picking up the phone and hitting the answer button. "Yes Rachel. What is it?" He didn't even try to hide his annoyance.

"Steve?"

"Yes."

"I need to speak to Daniel."

Steve rolled his eyes. He used to think it was cute the way Rachel called his partner Daniel. But now he found it as annoying as Danny did.

"Well I'm sorry Rachel. But he's really not up for chatting right now."

"Grace is gone!" She blurted out, the urgency in her voice clearly evident.

"Whoa! What do you mean she's gone!" Steve shot back.

Danny reached across the island and grabbed the phone from Steve's hand before Rachel even had a chance to reply.

"Rachel? What's going on? Where's Grace?"

"I don't know!" she cried.

"What do mean you don't know?" Danny hollered at her.

"What part of 'I don't know' do you not understand Daniel?" She snapped at him.

"Don't take that tone with me Rachel. None of this is my fault."

Rachel took breath to compose herself before continuing.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm just…I'm just going out of my mind right now."

"Just calm down and tell me what happened." Danny instructed.

There was silence on the other end of the line for moment. Finally Rachel continued.

"We told her. We told her everything."

She was crying now and for a brief moment, Danny felt bad for his ex.

"She was so angry." Rachel continued. "She was yelling at me…I don't even remember what she said and then she stormed off to her room. I thought that's where she was. But I just went to check on her and she's gone."

Steve's doorbell rang just as Danny was about to respond. Danny looked at his partner.

"Wanna bet that's her?" Steve said.

Danny slid the phone across the counter and Steve managed to grab it just before it slid off the edge. He raced to the front door and opened it. Sure enough, there was Gracie with a back pack on her shoulder looked distraught.

"Oh Monkey, thank God! " Danny exclaimed, pulling his daughter into his embrace.

"She's here." Steve informed Rachel as he entered the living. "We'll call you back."

"Grace what…? How did you get here?" Danny asked, pulling his daughter into the house and closing the door.

"I walked." Grace replied sullenly.

"From your Mom's house? That's a twenty minute drive from here!"

"No. From your house." Grace informed him. "I walked to my friend Jenny's and her brother gave me a ride to your house. You weren't there so I walked here. I knew you'd be here."

"Grace, honey, you can't do that! You scared your mom to death!"

"I don't care!" Gracie snapped back.

"Grace."

"I don't!" Grace insisted. "She lied to us!"

Danny sighed and ran his hand threw his hair.

"I'm not going back there Danno. Please don't make me."

"Grace…"

"I mean it! I'll just run away again. Please let me stay with you Danno. Please!" Grace begged, throwing her arms around Danny's waist and burying her head in his chest.

"Awe Monkey." Danny replied, kissing the top of his daughter's head. "Of course you can stay with me. I love you. Don't cry."

"How could she do this?" Grace asked him.

"I don't know sweetheart." Danny replied. But listen, he grasped Grace by her upper arms and forced her to look at him. "Running away like that…That is not OK? I want you call your mother and let her know you are here and you're safe."

Grace shook her head adamantly.

"No! No way!"

"Gracie, I'm not fooling around. OK? You need to apologize for scaring her like that!"

"NO! She needs to apologize to us for lying!" Gracie insisted. "We could have been a family Danno! You, me and Charlie. She had no right!"

Danny sighed.

"Grace…Please."

"No! I won't do it!" Grace hollered and then ran to the door leading to the lanai. Opening it, she stepped outside and with two hands pulled it shut with all her strength, effectively slamming the door in her father's face.

"Argh!" Danny cried out, his frustration level finally overcoming him. "How do I argue with that?" He asked Steve. "Everything she said is right."

"I know." Steve agreed. "C'mere and sit. OK? You look like you're ready to drop."

"No." Danny shook his head. "I gotta go talk to Grace."

"I'll talk to Grace." Steve said, taking Danny by the arm and leading him over to the couch. "I'll talk to Grace. I'll call Rachel and then three of us will head over to the hospital. We can figure the rest out later. OK?"

Danny sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands.

"OK."

"I'll be right back." Steve told him and then headed out to lanai.

Gracie was sitting at the patio table when Steve emerged from the house. He slid the door to the lania closed behind him before making his way over to Grace.

"Wow! That was really impressive." He informed her.

Grace turned to her uncle, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What?"

"Well, I mean, it's not easy to make such a dramatic exit through a sliding glass door, but you nailed it."

"If you're trying to make me laugh Uncle Steve, it's not going to work."

"Well you can't blame me for trying." Steve replied, taking a seat next to her. "I think we all could use a little levity at the moment."

"I don't get it Uncle Steve? Why isn't Danno angry? Why is he sticking up for her? She lied to us."

Steve sighed.

"Grace, he was angry. Believe me. But he realized being angry wasn't going to help your brother. He's very sick and your mom and dad have to be able to work together to help him. That's Danno's focus right now."

Grace hung her head and began picking nervously at his fingernails as Steve continued.

"And as for your Mom, I know what she did was wrong. But I also know that deep down, she honestly thought she was doing what was best for Charlie. She's seen how you worry about Danno and how upset it makes you when he gets hurt at work and she can't do anything to protect you from that. She thought she could at least protect Charlie. Can you understand that?"

"I guess so." Grace mumbled. "But I'm still a little angry with her."

"That's OK." Steve replied, placing his arm around her and pullingl her in for a hug. "I'm a little angry with her too. We'll work it out together."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Always the Hero – Part 5

Danny stood, frozen in place, desperately trying to get a breath and hold back the tears that were filling his eyes. _It's so small. A coffin should never be that small_ he thought to himself.But this coffin was and it held his son. An innocent three year old whom he would never get the chance to know. _Why did this happen? Why did this happen to my son?_

"This is all your fault!" Rachel's voice interrupted his thought and answered his unspoken question.

Danny turned to face his ex.

"Our son is dead because of you!" She spat at him angrily. "You always have to be the hero. For once, why couldn't you have thought your children first! YOU KILLED HIM!"

Danny bolted upright from where he slept on the hospital gurney in the Queen's Medical Center Emergency room.

"Danno! Are you alright?" Gracie asked, placing a hand on her father's shoulder. She had been sleeping beside him and naturally woke up when her father emerged from his nightmare.

"Yeah Monkey." Danny replied, trying to catch his breath and downplay the situation. "I'm fine. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"You're shaking."

"I'm OK. I just had a little nightmare. I'm fine."

"Was it about Charlie?" Grace asked.

"Yeah." Danny replied, wrapping his arm around his daughter and kissing her head. "Yeah it was, but it was just a dream."

"Where did Uncle Steve go? Gracie wondered, just having noticed he wasn't there.

"If I know your Uncle, probably driving the staff crazy trying to track down the Doctor." Danny replied.

When he arrived at the ER with Steve and Grace, an ER Doctor had set him up on a gurney in a corner of the ER and after taking his vitals and all his information, instructed him to rest while he waited for the specialist. The specialist would go over the test results with him and determine if Danny needed to be admitted.

"Sounds like their up?"

They heard Steve's voice before they saw him. He appeared from the other side of the privacy curtain and he wasn't alone. He had, in fact, managed to find the Doctor.

"Danny." The doctor greeted him with a friendly smile. "I heard you had a rough night last night."

"You could say that?" Danny groaned.

"Uh huh. Well, I wish you hadn't left yesterday like you did. We were all very worried. How are you feeling now?"

"Hungover." Danny admitted.

"He drank a lot last night." Grace chimed in.

"I heard." The doctor chuckled. "Not real smart Detective."

"Yeah. Yeah." Danny rolled his eyes. Not in the mood for another lecture. "Did you get my test results back?"

"I did." The doctor replied, opening the chart he held in his hands. "And I have some good news."

"And what's that?" Steve asked before Danny could.

"You're fine." The Doctor stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry…say that again." Danny replied.

"Your fine. The test came back normal. No indication of radiation poisoning."

Danny shook his head, still not believing what he was hearing.

"But you said yesterday, it was radiation poisoning."

"I _said_ , given the symptoms you were presenting and your recent exposure, it was a strong possibility but we would need the test to confirm. And if that _was_ the case, you being Charlie's donor would not be possible. That was the worst case scenario and I wanted you to be prepared for that."

"That's great!" Steve exclaimed before adding. "But why was he sick then?"

The Doctor shrugged.

"Not sure. It could have been any number of things. But I'm guessing it was probably stress related. Have you been sleeping well, eating regularly?"

"My kid's sick. What do you think?"

"Does this mean that Danno can be Charlie's donor now?" Gracie asked.

"We'll run another test in a couple weeks, just to be safe. But I'm pretty confident it will be negative again. And if that's the case, yes, we can proceed with the donor process."

Gracie let out a squeal of excitement and threw her arms around her father.

"But…" the Doctor raised his voice so as to be heard over the celebrating. "In the meantime, you have to take care of yourself. Healthy eating and getting plenty of rest. If that means taking some time off from work I'd be happy to provide you with a note for your employer."

"Thanks Doc. But that won't be necessary." Steve informed him. "Danny works for me and I will make sure he takes time off and rests. And Gracie will help me. Won't you Gracie?"

"Absolutely."

"Well on that note, I will have the nurse get your discharge papers ready." The Doctor said as he turned to leave. "I'll see you back here in two weeks."

When he was gone, Steve turned to face his partner.

"I bet you're feeling pretty good now huh?" He said, barely containing his excitement.

"Oh you have no idea." Danny sighed. "And I don't have to stay here. How great is that?" He said giving his daughter a playful squeeze."

"Can we go get Charlie?" Gracie asked excitedly.

"Oh Monkey…I don't know if that such a good idea. I don't think your mother would be too thrilled about it?"

"So." Gracie shot back. "He's your son. You have every right to spend time with him."

Danny looked at Steve.

"What do you think?"

Steve folded his arms across his chest and smiled.

"I think it's about time I met my best friend's son. In fact, I think the whole team is dying to meet him. Why don't we have everyone over my house for an afternoon barbecue? You and the kids are welcome to stay the night."

"Can we Danno? Please?" Gracie begged. "Charlie loves the beach!"

"Let's do it." Danny replied. "To hell with Rachel."

To be continued…


	6. Always the Hero -Part 6

_Author's note: I meant to wrap this story up a while ago. This chapter was originally going to be longer but I have another story I want to get started so I'm keeping it pretty much as I left it. Hope you enjoy. Feedback is always appreciated._

Always the Hero – Part 6

The five-0 team sat around the picnic table in Steve's back yard and watched in amusement as Danny worked diligently cutting a single hotdog into teeny tiny pieces. None of them said anything however, except for Steve, who just couldn't help himself.

"You know, I have a blender inside if you think those pieces are still too big." He informed Danny with a giant smirk on his face.

"Shut up." Danny snapped at him.

"Yeah, come on guys." Kono said, as she sat on her husband's lap a few feet away. "Leave him alone."

"Yeah. Leave me alone." Danny said, still cutting away. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had a toddler."

"Hmmm." Steve said, tilting his head. "Gracie is thirteen so that would make it…"

"Shut up!" Danny replied. "I will have you know, one bite of hot dog is just the right size to get lodged in toddler's throat. It's like a little cork."

"Danny. He's almost four. He has teeth." Grover reminded him.

"Yeah Danno." Grace chimed in. "Mom let's Charlie have his hot dog in a roll now."

"Yeah, well Mom's not here. And I'm cutting his hot dog up."

Charlie, who had been busy playing in the yard, ran up to the table and squeezed himself between Danny and Grace.

"I'm hungry."

"You are?" Danny replied. "Well that's good because I have your hot dog all ready for you."

Danny took the paper plate and held it out for his son to take. Charlie looked at the plate, then looked at Grace and finally back to Danny.

"Where's my roll?"

"Told you!" Gracie said with a smirk.

"You want a roll." Danny replied, ignoring his daughter. "Not a problem." He reached into the bag of rolls sitting on the table, pulled one out, and placed it beside the tiny hot dog pieces on the plate.

Charlie furrowed his tiny brow and looked at Grace and while he didn't say a word his expression said it all. _What the heck is wrong with this guy?_

Grace rolled her eyes. Grabbing another plate, she grabbed a roll from the bag and speared a hot dog from the serving plate.

"I got it Charlie." She informed him stuffing the dog in the roll. "You want some grapes with that?"

Danny's eyes nearly bugged out of his head while the rest of team tried to stifle their laughter.

"Grapes? Are you kidding me right now Grace? While you're at it, I think Uncle Steve has some hard candies inside you can give him. Maybe some chewing gum?"

"As a matter of fact…" Steve began, but Danny cut him off.

"Zip it you!"

"Relax Danno!" Gracie said, placing some grapes on Charlie's plate and handing it to him.

Grover, who had been watching in amusement from the sidelines, had finally decided enough was enough.

"Gracie, honey, you just let your Uncle Grover handle this." He said, getting up from his chair. "You and Charlie go have a little picnic on the grass. You're Dad and I are going to have a little chat."

Gracie nodded and taking Charlie by the hand she headed off.

"But…" Danny protested. "I really think Charlie needs to be sitting at the table with us while he eats."

Grover shook his head.

"He's with his sister. He's fine." And then placing his arm around the much smaller man he added. "Son, let me give you a little advice- one dad to another. You need to relax or you are never going to make it to forty."

"But…" Danny whined.

"NO BUTS!" Grover insisted. "Now sit down, relax, and for the love of God, will someone get this poor boy a beer!"

The End


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